United States President George W. Bush and congressional leaders lobbied furiously Thursday for enough support in the House of Representatives to push the troubled US$700-billion US financial industry bailout bill to the finish line, and the measure won converts from both parties on the eve of a showdown vote.
The bill was passed in the Senate Wednesday night 74-25.
Bush said "a lot of people are watching" and he kept up his pleas from the White House as Democratic and Republican leaders worked over wayward colleagues wherever they could find them.
Bush argued that the measure represents the "best chance" to calm unnerved financial markets and ease a widening credit crunch.
Representative Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, said there was a "good prospect" of approving the measure, but that he will not put the bill up for the vote planned for Friday unless he is confident it will pass.
The chief Republican vote-counter, Rep Roy Blunt, said, "I think we will be able to go to the floor and be successful sometime tomorrow".
'Blue Dog' Democrats
The much-maligned measure was returned to the House after the Senate resuscitated it with tax cuts and other sweeteners in the Senate vote late Wednesday. The bill had been defeated narrowly, 228-205, in the House on Monday.
Hoyer, a Democrat, left open the possibility the House could make changes to the legislation in a bid to attract more supporters, but said it was unlikely.
The Senate's addition of some US$110 billion in tax breaks and other sweeteners helped satisfy some Republican critics, but angered conservative so-called 'Blue Dog' Democrats concerned about swelling the deficit.
Still, Hoyer predicted the number of Democratic defectors from the measure "is going to be minimal".
The rescue package would let the government spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions. If successful, advocates say, that would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and prevent a serious recession.
In efforts to appease Republican opponents, the Senate-passed bill contains a provision to raise, from $100,000 to $250,000, the cap on federal deposit insurance.
- AP
